Oil giant ExxonMobil has signed on with the Petra Organisation for the hosting of its first Under-14 boys and girls tournament next month. The company announced its entry into the football fraternity during the launch which was held at Cara Lodge on Quamina Street, yesterday.
According to the Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Kimberly Brassington, “We do look for opportunities where we can make a difference and supporting the kids is one way we can do that, especially through sports, so we are really looking forward to the tournament.”
Bryan Joseph, Youth Development Officer (YDO) at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) indicated that they are willing to provide support for the tournament in the form of Coaches for the schools.
He added that the tournament falls in line with the GFF’s mandate for the sport’s development at the youth level, and he noted that, “This particular tournament is going to serve as a really good platform for some bigger things that we have happening in the year.”
He continued, “That is the CFU (Caribbean Football Union’s) Under-14 boys’ tournament scheduled for the end of July early August and the Under-15 girls that are going to be involved in a CONCACAF tournament in Florida.”
The tournament, the YDO explained, allows the federation to have a wider view of the eligible players before said tournament. Head of the Ministry of Education’s Physical Education Department, Nicholas Fraser, was also on hand during the launch, spoke of the Petra Organisation bridging a gap between the Pee Wee (U-11) and the Milo (U-18) tournaments: “Someone who would have participated in the Pee Wee U11 football tournaments would have to wait another seven to eight years to make the team again so it’s good to have that intermediate tournament.”
”The contribution and support would now fill a void that we have been fighting to fill for the last three to four years between our U11 and 18 tournaments,” Petra’s Co-Director, Troy Mendonca noted during his presentation.
The round-robin knockout tournament will feature 24 male teams and 8 female teams when it kicks off early next month.

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